UPFRONT
L&D UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS Luxury Escapes trains interns aged over 60
It’s tough to imagine a better internship than the one that Dennis and Jenny McCarthy from South Melbourne have been offered. Dennis, 72, and his 64-year-old wife Jenny will be the new interns at online travel company Luxury Escapes. The pair was selected from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants. The internship includes two days of training at the head office in Sydney, where they will learn the ins and outs of blogging, vlogging, social media and marketing. They will then spend 10 days travelling in Bali where they will get to review two resorts for the online company.
Innovative game makes construction safer
Imagine being able to navigate life-threatening scenarios by virtually walking through 3D building sites using a computer or oculus rift headset. Employees can access this virtual reality training right now to learn safety skills for the construction industry. Designed by Sidney Newton and Russell Lowe at UNSW Built Environment, the Situation Engine is the first software of its kind to be developed by construction safety experts. This achievement has not gone unnoticed as it has been awarded a Premier Innovation in Education and Training award by the UK-based Chartered Institute of Building.
Ford embraces mindfulness training
Ford Australia has launched a mindfulness program to help employees declutter their minds of daily distractions as the company pushes an aggressive new innovation agenda at its local and global facilities. A further 100 Ford managers will join the 82 who have already completed
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the first phase of the program, with the possibility of offering it to all employees in the future. Ford engineer turned psychologist Phillip Chen Yi Mei launched the company’s first mindfulness training locally in early 2015, and participation in the program has jumped by 125% following a successful phase-one pilot program.
Federal initiative allows employers to ‘try before you buy’
The federal government has committed $840.3m over four years to its Youth Employment Package, with the bulk of the funding ($751.7m) going towards the three-stage Youth Jobs PaTH (Prepare, Trial, Hire) program, which aims to provide employment opportunities for the country’s 120,000 vulnerable young people under the age of 25. Companies will receive a cash bonus of $1,000 to take an intern for between four and 12 weeks, during which the intern will for work for 15 to 25 hours per week. Companies offering employment opportunities can receive between $6,500 and $10,000 to help with the cost of paying the employees.
Apprentice/trainee numbers drop
Australia’s workforce has 8,600 fewer people starting apprenticeships and traineeships than last year, prompting alarm among the business community over a growing national skills shortage. The number of people commencing an apprenticeship or traineeship in September 2015 compared to the same time in 2014 has dropped 19.3%, according to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research. Peter Strong, CEO of the Council of Small Business of Australia, said the results demonstrated a crisis within the skilled training sector. “Unfortunately, it’s becoming far too expensive for employers to take on apprenticeships,” he said.
VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS A REALITY FOR SUNCORP BANK Think distance and time are barriers to learning? Think again There’s one L&D initiative that Suncorp Bank is particularly excited about introducing: virtual classrooms. The idea came about because Suncorp employees are geographically dispersed across Australia and New Zealand. Face-to-face classroom learning is therefore not always possible or desirable. In a flexible virtual classroom, participants use their phones, headsets and webcams to interact with a facilitator and fellow learners. These sessions are generally around 60 to 90 minutes long and are designed to be interactive and engaging. Suncorp’s willingness to embrace new technology is exceptional, says Ed Cooley, EGM, talent and planning, at Suncorp Bank. “Mobile phones and tablets enable us to provide learning that fits into people’s everyday lives,” he tells HRD. “No longer are you locked to your desk or the classroom; you can be participating in learning while you’re on the bus or at home. It’s about giving more flexibility to our people to learn in ways that best work for them.” Cooley adds that Suncorp offers a mix of learning options, such as workshops, e-learning, webinars and conferences, along with on-the-job development. “We take a blended learning approach to designing develop ment options,” he says, “combining formal learning, some coaching, and some on-the-job learning.”
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10/06/2016 10:05:30 AM